20 Minuten Germany On Hold

In their presentation for the upcoming Capital Markets Day, Norwegian publisher Schibsted officially put the German launch of the free daily 20 Minuten on hold. The title is successful in Spain and France, while also the Swiss edition, owned by Tamedia since 2005, is performing well. The risk of a launch in Germany - Europe largest newspaper market, and the only major market without free dailies - is probably too high. The company, however, is evaluating a launch in "1-2 smaller countries" of the concept. Schibsted also made clear in the presentation that they prefer to operate with partners in joint ventures - this may also have been a reason for the not-launching in Germany.